Every day, more internet users decide to start protecting their online traffic with the help of a VPN service. For beginners, it is important to find a service that is secure, but that is also easy to use and that doesn’t require a great deal of technical skills. That is what VPN Shield aims to offer and it is also an attractive choice for people who are looking for an affordable service. Their low prices and good set of features will grab the attention of anyone who is looking for a bargain. VPN Shield was established in 2012 by Defendemus, a company with extensive experience in security systems. The service is based in Poland and it claims to be the perfect solution for non-geeks. We’ll find out more about VPN Shield in this review.
Privacy and Security
VPN Shield claims to support the best encryption technologies for each operating system and for a variety of devices. While there are no specific details about the protocols supported on the website, we found out that OpenVPN is not one of the options available, which is very disappointing. This protocol is known for offering the strongest level of protection, which is why it is usually supported by VPN providers and it is the first choice for users who look for the highest level of security. VPN Shield supports PPTP, L2TP and IKEv2 connections. While IKEv2 and L2Tp are two good alternatives in terms of security, they are not as strong as open source OpenVPN. PPTP is a weak solution and should only be considered as the last resource.
The Privacy policy states that while they don’t actively monitor or keep logs of your online activities, they reserve the right to investigate in cases where they have reasons to believe that the terms of service are not being respected. In addition, it should be noted that they do maintain some connection details such as the server you connect to, the time of connection and the amount of data transferred. Although these technical details are meant to be used for troubleshooting purposes, users who want though protection for their privacy would have some concerns, particularly given the fact that it is not clear for how long the data is kept. On the bright side, the fact that the company operates from Poland means that it is less likely to be intercepted by the NSA or the GCHQ.
Features
VPN Shield has software specially designed for the most popular operating systems. You can download and install clients for Windows and Mac, as well as mobile apps for iOS and Android. The website also offers information to set up the service manually and to solve issues on each platform. In order to sign up for the service, you only need to provide your email address and create a password. Once you are running VPN Shield on your device, it will automatically connect you to a VPN whenever it detects that you are using a network that may not be secure. This will keep your information protected when you are using public WiFi. Another good point to highlight about VPN Shield is that its interface is very simple, which makes it ideal for new users.
While the simplicity of the client means that you won’t have hassle using the service, the lack of advanced features could also be an issue, particularly for those who prefer to have greater control over their VPN experience. VPN Shield is fairly basic but it allows you to enjoy good speeds without bandwidth restrictions. In addition, it uses technology that compresses the traffic between the servers and your device, which is a practical solution when you are using mobile data. There are servers available in Canada, Sweden, Singapore, France, Netherlands, Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and Japan. You can use up to five simultaneous connections with one account. It should be noted that the use of BitTorrent is not supported.
Plans
Low pricing is one of the reasons why many people may be considering using VPN Shield on the first place. They also offer flexibility in terms of the length of the subscription, which is great news for those who don’t want to commit to a long term plan. You can pay for just one week for $1.99. One month of service costs $4.99, three months cost only $9.99, which means that you pay $3.33 per month. A full year of VPN Shield costs just $29.99, meaning that the price per month is $2.50. You can even opt for three years of service, which would leave you paying as little as $1.94 per month. There is a free trial that allows you to check the service for one day. It is also possible to get 3 additional free days by liking VPN Shield on Facebook.
Customer Support
The website has a knowledge base, FAQ section and guides for different operating systems. If you can’t find what you are looking for on the customer support database, you can contact the team via web form. VPN Shield promises to reply faster than most of its competitors and their customer support is available 24/7.
Conclusion
VPN Shield’s plans stand out for their flexibility and affordability. You can get protection while using public WiFi for incredibly low prices. The service works well when it comes to adding an extra layer of security to your general browsing activities. However, VPN Shield is not the strongest option to protect your online traffic from eavesdropping and other privacy threats. They don’t offer the highest standard of security and the privacy policy is not the most solid one. If you are looking for a comprehensive solution that provides tough protection for your data, VPN Shield may not be it. However, it could work fine for users that simply want to disguise their IP address and get medium encryption to secure their information while they browse the internet.